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Bell: NFL, union move chains closer to HGH testing

It's about time. Sure, it's better late than never that the NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed in principle to a population study to determine whether HGH levels in pro football players are much

Sure, it's better late than never that the NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed in principle to a population study to determine whether HGH levels in pro football players are much different than for people in the general population.

But after so many stops and starts on this winding path to HGH testing — in two weeks it will be two years since the sides announced a preliminary agreement for this as part of a new, 10-year collective bargaining agreement — I'm wondering if this is yet another tease.

No question, the test needs to happen. There's something to be said for a clean sport.

As Oakland Raiders defensive end Lamarr Houston put it during an NFL Network visit on Monday, "The guys that are using it need to get put on full blast."

In another word, exposed.

There's no hard-core evidence of how many players in the NFL might use HGH, but with about two dozen players suspended last season for violating the steroid policy (including several admissions of Adderall use), there's reason enough to wonder. Consider scandals from other sports, such as the Biogenesis dragnet circling Major League Baseball and Lance Armstrong's fall from grace.

It is, sadly, part of the athletic culture: Some seek an unfair edge.

NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith has consistently declared that he wants a clean sport, even as he has moved the target in negotiating for HGH testing and drawn criticism for using stall tactics. He also has stuck to his guns on the population study, despite one anti-doping expert after another contending that it's useless.

Gary Wadler, a clinical associate professor at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, told USA TODAY Sports, "It's an opportunity to delay."

Linn Goldberg, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University who in December testified on Capitol Hill on the matter, told USA TODAY Sports, "I don't think they're going to find out that NFL players are more special or that their hormone levels are vastly different than people in the general population. Then what about college and high school players, who are even younger?

The NFLPA's case was bolstered in March, when Estonian skier Andrus Veerpalu had his HGH suspension overturned on appeal. Although the panel for the Court of Arbitration for Sport stated it believed Veerpalu used HGH, it ruled in his favor because of procedural flaws — and called for a bigger population study.

For the NFLPA, that's part of the due diligence, but the NFL agreed to a population study more than a year ago. Hang-ups have included third-party arbitration, language and whether the population study samples can be stored for use for future discipline.

All of this against the backdrop of the threat from a congressional committee — real or imagined, considering more important domestic issues — to call players to Capitol Hill for the next hearing.

So what happens when the population study results come in? Will the sides agree on how to interpret them and thus set the levels for that?

It's about time, all right, with the HGH testing falling under an umbrella that includes the entire drug program — which includes the alcohol policy the NFL wants strengthened. Although HGH testing has been the toughest issue to resolve, it's not the only one.

The late union chief Gene Upshaw, while expressing disdain for needles, once declared players under his watch would never give blood. Now they are poised to do just that. Times have changed. That's progress, on one level. But it's not a touchdown yet. More talks, more details, more agreements are needed.

Right now, it appears they have moved the chains for a fresh set of downs. Or fresh blood.